Stewart Richardson, Jim Johnson top Muddy Moose fields

SHAWN ROSEEN leaps into the mud during the Muddy Moose Trail Races on Sunday, April 27. Joshua Spaulding. (click for larger version)

May 05, 2014

WOLFEBORO — Although rain on a weekend is not a favorite of most people, when you are hosting a race called the Muddy Moose, it's not a bad thing.

Muddy Moose race director Fergus Cullen noted that the rain on Saturday, April 26, helped muddy up the course for the 200 or so racers who took to the woods on Sunday, April 27.

The Muddy Moose features a four-mile course and a 14-mile course, with all runners starting together at Kingswood Regional High School. The course diverges near the two-mile mark, where 14-mile runners head off to the mountains of Brookfield and New Durham and four-mile runners turn around and head back to the finish line at the high school.

In the four-mile race, the winning time was 25:52, put on the board by Stewart Richardson of Cambridge, Mass., followed by Brendan Stackhouse of Wolfeboro, a former winner of the race, in 26:30. Wakefield's Cameron Stinchfield rounded out the top three with a time of 28:08.

Among females, 11-year-old Addison Cox of Northwood was the top finisher with a seventh place finish overall in 30:39. Amy Tkaczyk of Northwood was the second female in 31:18 and Melissa Dark of New Durham finished third among women in a time of 35:22, which placed her 18th overall.

Many local runners came out to support the race, with proceeds going to local youth running programs, including the Kingswood cross country team. Many of the team members, parents and coaches served as volunteers, as did members of the Oyster River girls' cross country team, which Cullen currently coaches and parents of former Kingswood runners.

Wolfeboro's Tom Roseen was 13th overall in 32:24, followed by Wolfeboro's Christopher Hannon in a time of 33:28 for 14th place overall and Jeremy Degnan of New Durham placed 15th in 34:34.

Mike Jacobs of Wolfeboro ran to 19th overall in 35:34 and Tuftonboro's Shawn Roseen finished in 20th in 35:56. Wolfeboro's Corey MacDonald took 21st in a time of 36:21, Brent Coope of Wolfeboro finished in 23rd in 37:44 and Josh Haines of Wolfeboro placed 24th in 37:45.

Tuftonboro's Andrew Ferland ran to 26th place in 38:33, followed by David Bechard of Wolfeboro in 27th in 38:48 and Kylee Rowell of Ossipee in 39:18 for 29th. Wolfeboro's Peter Hess was 30th in 39:42 and Amie Cloos of Wolfeboro was 33rd in 40:14.

Haley Bridgeman of Tuftonboro finished 38th in 41:59, with Muddy Moose founder Dan Coons of Wolfeboro in 40th in a time of 42:44. Wolfeboro's Paul Haines finished in 50th place in 43:56. Brookfield's Stephanie Brunelle finished 59th in 46:33, with Brandi Atwell of Wolfeboro in 69th in 47:57 and Wendy Facteau of Sanbornville finished in 49:07 for 72nd place.

Chris Dustin of Wolfeboro ran to 75th in 50:57, while Erin Irvine of Brookfield placed 83rd in 57:57 and Amy Mitchell of Alton finished 84th in 58:10. Wolfeboro's Rachael Jeffers was 88th in 1:11:15, Sarah Pelletier of Tuftonboro was 89th in 1:11:16, Ryan Carpenter of Wolfeboro was 91st in 1:15 and Alex Gobiel of Wolfeboro was 92nd in 1:16 to round out the field of local runners.

For the 14-mile race, it was Madison's Jim Johnson pacing the pack, as he finished in 1:32:11 to take the win. Bryan Bhark of Melrose, Mass. was second in 1:37:58 and Tim Connelly of Cambridge, Mass. finished third in 1:42:29.

Among women, Kehr Davis of Barrington, Mass. was the top finisher, crossing in 1:52:25 for 10th overall. Nini Silitch of Dublin was second in 1:57:48 and Kendra Johnson of Northwood was third in 1:58:50.

After Johnson, the top local finisher was Ossipee's Stephen Beaupre, who placed 11th in 1:54:18, with Tuftonboro's Brad Beveridge placing 13th in 1:57:07. Tobey Reynolds of Alton finished in 23rd in 2:08:02, Conway's Kyla Brustin ran to 31st in 2:14:59 and Matthew Christian of Ossipee finished 44th in 2:30:29. Alton's Ronda Fernald finished 72nd in a time of 2:51:31, Joe Irvine of Brookfield placed 79th in 2:55:33, Wayne Lapham of Wolfeboro was 81st in 2:57:13 and John Sinclair of Ossipee rounded out the field of locals in 90th place in 3:17:42.

Complete results are available at coolrunning.com.

Joshua Spaulding can be reached at 569-3126 or sportsgsn@salmonpress.com